


[Meta] Episode 4.02 ("Aʻale Maʻa Wau")

by wanderlustlover



Series: Hawaii Five-0 Season Four Meta [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: F/M, Meta, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-27 02:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2675111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderlustlover/pseuds/wanderlustlover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The episode where Cath decides to work for Billy. </p><p>And a really cute soft ball game happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	[Meta] Episode 4.02 ("Aʻale Maʻa Wau")

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alemara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alemara/gifts).



> _Cath: "Everything alright?"_  
>  Steve: "Yeah. Everything’s fine."  
>  Cath: "I heard Billy stopped by."  
>  Steve: "Billy did stop by. About that—"  
>  Cath: "Yeah, listen. The only reason I didn’t say anything to you about leaving The Navy was because I wasn’t sure, and that was a decision that I had to make on my own."  
>  Steve: "On your own. And with Billy."  
>  Cath: "Okay, listen, now. My CO told him that I was thinking about resigning my commission. I haven’t even submitted my letter yet."  
>  Steve: "So, you’re actually serious about this?"  
>  Cath: "….. I spent half my life in The Navy, Steve. It’s like I need to start thinking about what’s next."  
>  Steve: "Alright. So why would you, uh, why would you turn down the job with Billy?"  
>  Cath: "It’s not right for me."  
>  Steve: "Catherine, it’s tailor-made for you. Recon and surveillance. Risk Assessment. Protection Services. Please. Why would you say no?"  
>  Cath: "Because I’m really happy right now. I mean. Things are good between us and I don’t want a job, even if it’s the perfect job, to get in the way of that." 

I wrote this up for the many people who’ve been debating what exactly got said in this scene. 

But now that I have written it up, I’m having so many problems with this piece of dialogue. All over the board. Because, seriously. Way to fail equality, feminism, empowerment, honesty, and any kind of real relationship in less than three minutes worth of screen time. 

* 

Let me try to list them for you: 

**Steve & Billy’s scene starts with Steve & Billy reminiscing that the last time they saw or heard anything of each other was when Steve shipped out to North Korea for the mission that ultimately killed Freddy & his father. **

> 1\. Billy feels compelled up front to tell Steve the truth, in person even, because he respects Steve that much and wants to be honest about the offer to Catherine, and probable to find out if Steve was the one who put his foot down and said no.
> 
> 2\. This paints Billy in an innocent light, while painting Catherine in a dishonest one. Again. Because Billy is coming clean/admitting to a wrong-doing/asking permission (for something he shouldn’t be asking Steve permission for/Steve does not have permission to give because he is not Catherine’s Keeper)

What this tells me by the fourth line of this dialogue above though, is that somehow 

> 1.Catherine never mentioned running into Billy at the end of S3 to Steve before now and  
>  that Catherine already got the update that Billy was there/Billy & Steve talked … likely, from Billy.  
>  2\. There’s a lot of going around Steve’s back, ala Cath’s treatment of Steve while she was paling around with Doris, and not telling the truth about it, already being hinted at as a Billy and Cath staple at the starting line now.

**There are three men making the decisions about Catherine’s job future, which really, really annoys me on several levels**

> 1\. Catherine’s CO is the one who’s heard about the resignation — that’s cool, that’s official, he should know  
>  2\. Catherine’s CO drags in Billy, who only happens to be her past ex — which a) means Catherine has no blame for Billy’s offer, because it’s her CO’s fault. Both for knowing about her considering quitting The Navy and it’s his fault for lining her up with the new firm Billy is making, thus making him the catalyst for the whole fall out coming and not Catherine  
>  3\. Steve, who is ultimately given the lead to make the decision for her by the end by her, instead of as she previously claimed, by herself, because she needed to do it for herself  
>  4.Thus clearing Cath of taking any role in making this decision or ownership in the direction of her life/future — and also alleviating her from any blame when it blows up here, too. Because Her CO & Billy found her the new job and Steve was the one who told her to take the job. 

**Cath’s entire reasoning for this situation is wrong**

> 1\. You are not in an “I’m really happy/things are good” if when you say it  
>  2\. You had to pause for five seconds to answer  
>  3\. You aren’t smiling when you say it  
>  4\. and it’s in the middle of you explaining why you were lying to/avoiding being honest with that person (for the second major time — first about something drastic in their life, this time about something drastic in your own)

You are not in an “I’m really happy/things are good” if you need to avoid mentioning you ran into your ex, who happens to be your current boyfriend/thing’s friend, comrade and someone he served with for years and years You are not in an “I’m really happy/things are good” place if you can’t even share with your significant other that you are considering making massive life altering changes to your life. Not even that you are making them, but that you are considering them. 

> 1\. Because it means you seriously are not thinking about both things as equal in their weight in your life, then.

You are not in ”I’m really happy/things are good” (for us) relationship if you think your significant other would leave you, or rock the boat, about you pursuing a perfect job that is tailor made to your skills, happiness and that would give you somewhere you need to be to explore/expand who you are now. 

* 

Also. Because now it’s going to annoy me, since we know the retirement is 4.05. She hasn’t even sent her letter in at this point. Resigning and retiring takes so much longer than two episodes. Dismissals are short, but everything else is very much so not. 

Thank you for warping everything you’ve had to do with The Navy for The Implausible Love Triangle setup.


End file.
